Licensing my Picture to UPS

Earlier in 2014, I licensed one of my pictures to UPS. The story of how it happened (both the picture and the deal) are quite funny. Read below what the story is that UPS posted on their Social Media Channels.

"We live in a world where at any moment someone might be taking your picture. If you’re lucky, like UPS driver Gary Walter, it will be photographer Omid Scheybani. Or rather “phoneographer.” Omid is one of a handful of photographers who have amassed a significant following on Instagram, admired for stunning pictures taken on an iPhone.

A friend has called Omid’s work “world culture storytelling through photo sharing.” “Photography was never really a thing for me growing up,” says Omid. “I didn’t own my own camera. But when I got my first smartphone, I became ‘the guy who’s constantly taking pictures.’ Instagram, with its filters and sharing capabilities was a turning point for me.” Omid travels a lot for business and always reserves some extra time to take pictures. On a recent trip to New York, he knew he wanted to get a shot of a mural he’d always liked. “I thought, I’ve got to find this corner again and take this picture, because I hadn’t really gotten the shot I wanted.”

“So I’m standing between cars, waiting for people to pass by the mural, because I didn’t want anyone in the shot. Just a clean picture with the red wall and the white text. But then I saw this UPS driver in the corner of my eye. And I had this vision in my mind of this man – working - walking past the mural. So I took five or six shots quick shots on my iPhone. And it was instantly clear to me that his moving through the scene was way cooler than just the mural. (The driver never saw me. We didn’t talk. He was busy, of course, he works for UPS!) It’s a very satisfying experience to capture a picture like this and create something beautiful out of the every day.”

Omid made our day when he tweeted UPS his picture. “A friend of mine commented when I posted the picture to Instagram, saying, man, UPS would love to see that picture. So I tweeted y’all. That’s was one of those confirming moments that this social media thing really works. You can contact these big brands, and someone is really reading this.” It does work. And we thank you, Omid, for sharing your picture with UPS."